Posts Categorized: recommended

There’s always a bit of anxiety when a favorite author departs from their established genre and dabbles in a new one. When I heard about Charles Finch’s The Last Enchantments, I didn’t have those feelings because I knew he would take care of me. That being said, this is the hardest review I’ve had to write as a blogger and it’s not because I’m a fan of his, but rather I don’t know what to say other than to use shouty capitals: GO BUY THIS BOOK AND READ IT NOOOOW! After John Kerry loses the 2004 presidential election, William Baker decides to pursue a postgraduate degree in literature at Oxford University. Leaving behind political dreams he soon finds himself immersed in academic life and contemplating his future. Will isn’t prepared… Read more »

Rachel Harris is one of those authors I keep wanting to pick up and even have My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century on my to-be-read list, but ask anyone with a list and they’ll tell you, sometimes just don’t get around to it. When the opportunity came to participate in the blog tour for Seven Day Fiancé, I couldn’t pass up the chance and I’m so glad I participated! Seven Day Fiancé is the second book in the Love and Games series and if you haven’t read the first, Taste the Heat, it’s not necessary to enjoy Seven Day. As for characterization, we have strong characters. Angelle is the youngest in her family and grew up full filling her parents’ wishes. When a long time family friend, Brady, asks her to… Read more »

A lot can happen in the course of a year and Anna Bloom’s The Art of Letting Go shows us exactly what happens when a twenty-five year old decides to enroll at university for the first time and gives up the life she’s settled for. Narration is first person and Lilah is an engaging narrator. You’ll easily fall in love with her and want to be her friend. The Art of Letting Go is written in a form of a diary, but doesn’t read like one. Bloom has a talent for combining humor and sarcasm throughout the narrative. The Art of Letting Go is everything I’ve been wanting in a New Adult novel. Often times, New Adult authors get lost in the amount of required bedroom action and forget that… Read more »

Daniel Kalla’s Rising Sun, Falling Shadow is the highly anticipated sequel to The Far Side of the Sky. If you’re worried about spoilers, you won’t find any major ones preventing you from enjoying Rising Sun. Kalla provides enough back-story and allows a reader to delve right in without being lost. The year is 1943 and bowing to Nazi pressure, the Japanese force thousands of Jewish refugees in Shanghai to relocate. Newlyweds Franz and Sunny Adler endure the move to the ghetto and continue to operate the only hospital for Jewish refugees amid difficult conditions. While Franz is willing to make the best of the situation, Sunny wants revenge for the death of her father. She joins a resistance group, believing in their cause while Franz’s daughter, Hannah is lured into… Read more »

If you’re familiar with Lauren Willig’s books, then you know she often combines narratives from the past with the present. The Ashford Affair isn’t any different and incorporates the narratives of both Clementine (in the present) and Addie’s (the past). This is Addie’s story, but in many ways, it’s also Clementine’s. Clementine is on journey to realize what truly matters in life. Clementine Evans arrives late to her grandmother’s birthday celebration and is surprised when her grandmother calls her Bea. She asks her mother about Bea, but doesn’t get a direct answer. In fact, Clementine asks around and slowly a family secret is unearthed. Bea was a cousin of Granny Addie and through a series of flashbacks we’re told Addie’s story. Addie comes to live with the Earl of Ashford… Read more »